Last week our class took a trip to a nuclear reactor at MIT.

Because phones were not allowed into the actual reactor the only picture I could get was from the outside.

Before actually entering the reactor the woman in the reception area checked our IDs and gave us a monitor to attach to our clothing. The monitor told us how much radiation we were exposed to.

After getting all checked in we listened to a lecture from an MIT professor. We learned that the reactor was constructed in 1958 and then reconstructed in 1975. The reactor operates 24/7 at 6MW thermal power with a 65% capacity.

In order to keep from over heating there is a two loop cooling system. If something happens to the cooling system then the water in the generator would begin to boil and evaporate which causes air to shoot up.

Also the reactor needs a way to release hydrogen build up if it doesn’t it the hydrogen can act as a catalyst and disrupt the operations of the reactor.

The machine itself is 36 inches wide and 2 feet tall. One benefit of this reactor is that it does it produce greenhouse gases. Uranium-235  fusel the reactor. This reactor is strictly for experiments and generating electricity for the heating at MIT. The trip made me realize how important it is that we actually start looking into nuclear power.

In this experiment we took an NXT and attached it to a  small solar panel.By using a flash light as an energy source we held the flash light at different  lengths while the NXT recorded the wave lengths.

We then used different colored light to see if this would change the wavelengths.

Because of technical difficulties my groups data was erased by the computer crashing. The data used in this blog is not our own, but is being used as an example to better explain the experiment we did in class.

This passed week Tom Vales came to our class and talked about electricity and also showed us a tesla coil.  Vales talked about the differences between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison. Tesla did a lot of work with just himself and one lab assistant, while Edison did the same amount of work, but had many lab assistants. Vales also told us we have tesla to thank for why we have alternating currents. The tesla coil he showed us consisted of a plastic bucket wrapped in wire and was attached to a motor.

Vales continued to show us neat things about the tesla coil by holding lights near it. Just by holding lights near the tesla coil they would light up.

Overall the whole talk was extremely interesting. I have read somethings on Tesla so it was nice to learn more about him and also see how one of his inventions worked.

Pandora’s Promise is a documentary that goes into the idea that nuclear power at first seemed to be bad for the environment, but could actually save it. Environmentalists began to explain why they thought nuclear power was something that was bad. They claimed that the nuclear industry caused a radiation wasteland.

What some protester learned and then talked about is that they were focusing on the negative because nuclear power was first shown to the world in bombs.

Overall the film shows both sides of the argument which helps show the pros and cons of nuclear power. In my opinion nuclear power is not a bad thing, but people are scared of it because they don’t know enough about it. This film proves this exact point with great examples and a lot of informant. The film is very informative and is something everyone should watch to learn why nuclear power could help clean up the environment by not using fossil fuels.

This week we split off into groups and made a pulley lift weights. We tested accelerate, potential energy, and power (related to force). The machine was made using the motor from the robot car, string and a pulley.

For the experiment we changed variables. At first we changed the mass by taking weights off but kept the power the same. After running  the pulley a few times we switched so that the mass of the weights stayed the same and we changed the power.

After the robot collected all our data we made four graphs as a way to better compare the data.

Although this experiment was pretty easy there were some errors because of the technology. At one point the robot controlling the motor wouldn’t stop and just kept running. Overall this was an awesome learning experiment.

The Sawyer Library is a very good recourse for any research project, paper or study group. The homepage for the library looks very similar to any other library website. This makes the website very easy to use and everything is clearly labeled.

On the homepage it is possible to look up books, journals, websites and much more. If you already know what you’re looking for this is a good place to start your research. The great thing about the website is if you are confused about how to start you’re research, but don’t have the time to go into the library the website has a section where you can ask a librarian for help.

Lastly the website has a place for students to book study rooms. This is a nice quite room in which group projects, studying and much more can occur. To book a group study room it is very easy and there are many times available.

Overall the Sawyer Library is similar to many other libraries but it is also very different.

On days where temperatures are at extreme highs or lows people use a lot of energy as they turn on heaters or ac units. In addition people have on all the other electrical appliances they usually have on such as computers, lights, televisions and many others. 

The Demand Response program is where electricity companies monitor the grid and make sure that the levels are not reaching capacity if it does then large commercial users are paid to cut back on power. This way there is enough power for everyone and the system isn’t overused so there are no brown outs are black outs.

With programs like demand response there is hope that the price of electricity might be able to go down because less power will need to be provided the less people use it.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/07/22/demand-response-takes-pressure-off-power-grid/b5gZ6ENPYjmr4KWq4LZpdN/story.html

http://energy.gov/oe/technology-development/smart-grid/demand-response

http://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/demand-response.asp

The temperature has been rising since the year 1901. The may cause of this is because of CO2 emission. The US is one of the countries with the highest CO2 emissions. High CO2 levels is also the reason for the insane weather storms that have been happening since 2012.

Obama’s Clean Power Plan will help reduce CO2 levels and cut peoples’ electric bills in half. By finding ways to find less expensive alternative energy sources people will be able to pay less. Also people are excepted to become healthier because of the reduction of pollution in the air. The plan is for the Environmental Protection Agency will propose guidelines for each state to follow. The EPA will set a goal for each state for how much CO2 they should be cutting out and the states will try to get to that goal. The plan’s goal is to cut electricity bills by 8% by the year 2030. Overall Obama’s Plan is quiet simple to save money and be healthier the US needs to find ways to cut down on CO2 and get more product for the energy used.

http://www2.epa.gov/carbon-pollution-standards/fact-sheet-clean-power-plan-overview

http://www2.epa.gov/carbon-pollution-standards/fact-sheet-clean-power-plan-benefits

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/06/18/2014-13726/carbon-pollution-emission-guidelines-for-existing-stationary-sources-electric-utility-generating

For the past 2 weeks in we split into partners built a robot car and discovered how to program it to drive in circles, different directions and different speeds. Building the robot was actually quite confusing even with the directions because of all the different lego pieces that went into it. Besides what is shown a battery had to be attached to the bottom of the car to give it power to move. 

Using a USB chord we were able to input instructions for how the robot should move by using the computer program Lab View and then transferring them from the computer onto into the robot. As my partner and I tried programing different speeds into each wheel we realized that keeping the wheels at the same speed allowed the robot to move in a straight line. When we changed the speed of one wheel the robot would turn in a circle. Another assignment the class got was to see if the robots distance traveled could be calculated before the robot moved. By taking the diameter of the wheel in centimeters and then multiplying that number by .01, so that the number could be converted to meters. Finally by multiplying the product by Pi the final answer gives the circumference of the wheel. The circumference is important because the distance traveled when a wheel does one turn is equal to the circumference. Using LabView the computer is able to calculate the number of times the wheel turns. Telling the computer the circumference of the wheel and multiplying that number by the number of turns allowed by the computer to calculate the distance traveled. My partner and I got these results:

There was only some difference in my and my partner’s results the error is most likely from the diameter measurement being incorrect. In conclusion however it is shown in this test the less amount of power the car has the less distance is traveled.

The Automobile Industry hopes to have mpg in the 30s by 2016. By 2025 the industry hopes to have this numbers basically doubled.

The two main ways to increase gas milage that the industry is looking into is electricity and a start-stop engine. An electric car would run on electricity which would need to be charged every once in awhile. A  start-stop engine is an engine that stops when the car is not in motion to avoid gas waste. Although electric cars are now a common thing people are still uneasy about the start-stop engine. What happens if the engine doesn’t start again and the car is stuck?  Automobile companies are still try to find ways to get around this. Engines cannot start all at once so what happens if someone in a traffic jam wants to move into an opening? Before this is common practice companies need to learn more about it. Basically there isn’t really a best way to increase gas milage without building an entire new engine.

MPG is tested in a lab where a car is run in a simulator that goes through different environments and different speeds.

Many people are afraid of the cost because if the technology of a car is more high tech it is more expensive. The industry argues with that even though the car is more expensive the savings in gas will be tremendous. Therefore once the car is paid off it will be worth because u will be cutting your gas bills in half.

“Detailed Test Information.” Fuel Economy. Web. 19 Sept. 2014. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml

Csere, Csaba, and Alex Ostroy. “How Automakers Will Meet 2016 CAFE Standards.” Car and Drive. 1 May 2010. Web. 19 Sept. 2014. http://www.caranddriver.com/features/how-automakers-will-meet-2016-cafe-standards

Gitlin, Jonathan, and Kyle Niemeyer. “The Road Ahead: How We’ll Get to 54.5 Mpg by 2025.” Arstechnica. 8 Oct. 2012. Web. 19 Sept. 2014. http://arstechnica.com/features/2012/10/the-road-ahead-how-well-get-to-54-5-mpg-by-2025/2/

Vlasic, Bill. “U.S. Sets Higher Fuel Efficiency Standards.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 Aug. 2012. Web. 19 Sept. 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/29/business/energy-environment/obama-unveils-tighter-fuel-efficiency-standards.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1411118291-+UUJnv32QxmeCh3HcNWmAg